Do not make the mistake of thinking that because my conclusion is the same as another person's that my reasoning is the same
I think, on the whole, I'm satisfied with the major action on the Black Blogger thread taking place at Cobb. I have more posts, but he has more…and more intense… comments.
I don't normally lift other people's comments, but Abiola Lapite from Foreign Dispatches spoke to the problems, er, outspoken Black folks catch from both sides of the political spectrum:
The end result of this discomfiture on the left as well as the right is that such voices tend to fall between two stools, so to speak. People want voices they can use as propaganda for their own ideological stances, and recognition of complexities gets in the way of such utility. To be a black liberal is easy, and to be a black conservative in the Shelby Steele mold is easier still: what is difficult is maintaining that, yes, racism does indeed still exist, that it does need fighting, that it is indeed responsible for many of the problems blacks face today, but that not everything can or should be laid at the white man's door - that just messes up the script for everyone looking for a nice little token.
Now, I happen to know there's little likelihood of Abiola and I agreeing on issues mapped by their political and social axises. However, in the political metadimension whose axises are social and cultural, he and I suspect there's much we would see eye to eye on:
Let me clarify what I'm getting at by putting this in another context; if in 1935 the Germans said you were a Jew, then for all practical purposes, you WERE one, regardless of what your background was or how you felt about the matter. So it is with being "black" today. As long as there are women who clutch their purses and cross the street, in broad daylight, even though you are dressed in a suit and on your way to work at an investment bank, then there are going to be things you can bring to a discussion that no white person can, however familiar or unfamiliar with "black" culture that person may be.
This is the reason that though there's no topic I won't discuss with anyone (barring extremely personal issues), there are a lot that I won't discuss with Black and white folks at the same time.
In my comments here, we've branched out a little, with Al-Muhajabah mentioning how she decided to pull together her impressive set of links to Islamic blogs (check the right hand column) and Colorado Luis adding a Latino perspective through a trackback. (As a side note, Luis doesn't think we should use "identity politics" as a pejorative. I agree, but I'm going to use the hell out of it, my way. There should be no negative way to refer to pursuing one's legitimate interests, though you can try to talk me out of thinking my interests are legitimate, if you like). MsLauren at feministe adds a little…more? different? color to the mix:
the suggested questions are aimed specifically at whitefolks, but please feel free to expound on the subject if you are of another race or ethnicity.
1. what does it mean to be white? what does it mean to be White?
2. how has whiteness affected your worldview?
3. how has whiteness affected your educational experience?
4. how has whiteness affected your experience with authority?
5. how has whiteness affected your experiences with people of other races and ethnicities?
please feel free to post your responses on your own blog. the more people we can add to this discussion, the better.
Agreed. That's why I keep pushing this.
Posted by P6 at September 18, 2003 02:32 PM | Trackback URL: http://www.prometheus6.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1694When I was running diversity programs in college, I was never able to get satisfying answers to those questions...
at least not from "white" or "White" people.
brown people had tons to say.
It's like trying to get people to describe the canvas a picture is painted on.
As far as I can see, so far there's only been one trackback to feministe's challenge…from a gay sister.